


Unity

by Bryonia_Alba



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 13:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10640412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bryonia_Alba/pseuds/Bryonia_Alba
Summary: She brought him into the fold, and everything fell into place from there.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the I Didn't Go to TWH Ficletathon, 2005.

He sits alone at mealtimes. She doesn't know if it's by choice, or if it's because he's been ostracised by the few remaining students at the Slytherin table. She thinks it might be both. He's the only one left from fifth year and above from that House, the only one not called away to join the forces arrayed against Potter.

He stands alone, aloof while the others learn spells and hexes no one of their tender years should know. His spell-casting is as quick and assured as everyone else's, yet he receives no praise, no clap on the back for a job well-done. His dark gaze sweeps with cool disdain at the tightly-knit cliques surrounding him, a slight curl to his lips. She's seen the spark of pain in his eyes he can't quite hide, though. She's seen the stifled loneliness.

She argues with her friends in the warmth and comfort of her House's common room. It's not fair; it's not right, she says. We're driving him away when we need all the help we can get.

He's a Slytherin, they reply, a serpent in the grass that can't be trusted. He's too haughty, they say. He hasn't suffered enough, not like their own, or students in other Houses. They wager on the odds of him being a spy for the other side, how long it will be before he joins the others to report on what he's seen and overheard.

She listens, though. She hears what her Housemates won't say aloud, just as she hears the whispered snatches of conversation between the professors. Is he, isn't he, what to do, what not to do…

It seems so plain to her, so obvious; she's amazed the others can't see. He is alone by his choices he's made. He's chosen his path, forsaking all he's ever known or been taught in the choosing. It's an act of insight the Ravenclaws have overlooked, courage not seen by Gryffindors, ambition scorned by his fellow Slytherins.

And in Hufflepuff? They have forgotten that sometimes loyalty to ideals outstrips loyalty to those you once considered friends.

The following day at breakfast she sits at the Slytherin table, across from him. She can feel the eyes of the other students on them as she tries to engage him in small talk. He doesn't reply; but there are moments where he was tempted. She's sure of it.

She joins him again at lunch. And again at dinner. And again at breakfast the next day. She sits next to him in the classes they share.

When he finally does answer, nearly three days have passed. It's as though a dam has burst. His family has disowned him. His former friends despise him. He wonders if he has made the right decision in staying behind, understanding yet hating the distance the other students and professors hold him. He desperately wants to believe he's done the right thing; he wants to make a difference.

They become friends, surprising and puzzling her Housemates. They study together, practise together. She partners him while they're training for the battle that's coming. Between them, they reach out for others, misfits and outcasts, those who never defined the norms of their Houses. Their closest allies are the eccentric Ravenclaw whose frank honesty hides the intelligence known to her House, and the Gryffindor who fears everything yet never hesitates to stand for what's right and true; and between the four the bonds of friendship and belonging are unbreakable.

Months pass. War draws closer, and every day brings news of more deaths, from both sides. She's the one who holds him when he learns of Theodore's death, he who had once been his dearest friend. They will never be reconciled now. He's there for her when word of her parents arrive, leaving her the last remaining member of her name and heritage.

They find comfort in each other that night, his dark hands reverent against her pale skin, her hair freed from its usual long plait to surround them in a golden curtain as she brings him inside her for the first time. There's pain, but pleasure as well; and afterwards he calls her his golden lily, a play upon her name and the colour of her hair.

They fight side by side when the war finds them at last, along with the fearful Gryffindor and the eccentric Ravenclaw. His ring is on a chain around her neck. Her braid is tucked in his belt. And when Voldemort is at last thrown down and vanquished, Susan and Blaise are finally free to face their future together, along with Neville and Luna. Four people, four Houses, united in friendship…and love.


End file.
